Foley Resigns

Congressman Mark Foley has resigned Congressman effective immediately.

Larry Coker: Staying or Going?

Check out all of the coverage of the goings on in Coral Gables on our sister site Florida College Sports Blog.

Daryl Jones is the right choice

Jim Davis had his mind made up. He wanted to go in a different direction, but thanks to the wisdom of a few members of our Congressional Delegation who shall go unnamed, Davis choose Daryl Jones who as we mentioned the other day should have been the easy choice for Lt. Gov. on the Democratic ticket.

Crist's Choice

Charlie Crist is most likely going to be the next Governor of Florida. As a centrist, Crist has repositioned the Florida GOP in the middle of the political spectrum after eight years of the party being pulled to the right by Governor Jeb Bush and his minions in the state house.

Will Crist continue his centrist path by selecting a middle of the road running mate, like Senator Lisa Carlton? Or will he try and appease the party's base by picking a conservative like Rep. Jeff Kottkamp who has sponsored some bizarre legislation during his House tenure?

My thinking is that Crist will either play it safe with someone like Carlton or will try and crush Jim Davis with black voters by selecting Rep. Jennifer Carroll, an African-American with strong conservative and military credentials.

Despite all of the talk that Davis needs an African-American running mate, I would argue he doesn't because despite Crist's bonafide credentials with black voters, chances are they will largely stay in the Democratic column. Secondly, Daryl Jones who is black is probably the best option for Davis anyway, so he can reasonably argue he picked the best person for the position. Consider that of the potential LG candidates on the Democratic side, black or white only Jones has the Legislative background, statewide experience, military background and national connections to actually add something to a ticket that is likely to lose in November. The other potential choices will not do anything to change the race.

The Day After

WINNER AND LOSERS FROM PRIMARY DAY 2006


WINNERS

Charlie Crist

The Republican Primary electorate in Florida is less ideological and issues based than many analysts thought. Crist ran to the middle and still crushed Tom Gallagher who has won six previous statewide elections. Crist is now perfectly positioned to dispose of Jim Davis in the General, since Davis lacks Crist's charisma and comes out of his primary much more bloody than does Crist.


Robert Wexler

Congressman Robert Wexler's personal popularity can be credited with two somewhat surprising results from Democratic state Senate primaries in South Florida. Jeremy Ring defeated Broward Mayor and former state Representative Ben Graber largely due to Wexler's support, and Ted Deutch shocked multi millionaire state Rep. Irv Slosberg thanks largely to Wexler's stumping.



LOSERS


Jeb Bush

Bush stumped heavily for Frank Bolanos in the State Senate District 38 primary. Miami-Dade Republican voters rejected Bolanos and by extension Bush in re-electing Alex Villalobos. After 8 years hard edged conservative ideology, Republican voters statewide nominated Charlie Crist who is far more moderate than Bush and uses softer, more comfortable rhetoric to describe his vision.



Ken Pruitt

Pruitt's hold on the Senate is now in doubt following Alex Villalobos victory over Frank Bolanos and an estimated $5-$7 million in campaign cash directed against him.



Big Money in State Senate Campaigns

Big money was spent on behalf of Frank Bolanos, and Irv Slosberg, making them the two best funded state senate campaigns in Florida history. Both candidates lost as excessively negative mail and TV seemed to do more to annoy voters than to win their vote.

Election Night IV: Jennings to face Oelrich

Ed Jennings and Steve Oelrich won their respective party primaries tonight and will face off against each other in the general election seeking to represent the Gainesville based Senate District 14. Oelrich easily disposed of Travis Horne to win the GOP noomination, while Jennings an African-American suprisingly held his own in the rural areas and beat Perry McGriff to claim the Demoocratic nod. Senate District 14 is the most vulnerable seat currently held by the Democrats. It is being vacated by Rod Smith who was defeated tonight for the Governor.

Election Night III: Davis wraps it up

Broward County, late reporting as usual (no doubt due to the normal snafus coming from the inept elections office in Fort Lauderdale) has secured the Democratic nomination for Jim Davis. He will face Charlie Crist in November. Davis lost Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties but by winning Broward he offset any opportunity Smith had for late night comeback based on Metropolitan South Florida.

Another note from Broward. It appears Jennifer Gottlieb will unseat Darla Carter from the Broward School Board. This is perhaps the best news the children of Broward County have had all year!

Election Night II: Villalobos looks certain to triumph

Miami TV still claims the race is too close to call, but I am ready to call it. Senator Alex Villalobos has survived the mass onslaught of cash from GOP leadership related entities (estimated to be in the neighborhood of $5-7 million) and will be the Republican nominee for Senator in District 38. With the election in November against the Democrat a formality, get ready for some serious fireworks this session in the Senate. Villalobos who beat back the best shots the Jeb Bush/Ken Pruitt machine had to throw at him team with Senate Democrats to make himself Senate President? Only time will tell.

Election Night I: Davis sweeping I-4

It is going too be very dififcult for Rod Smith to win tonight's primary based upon the early returns. Jim Davis holds a substantial lead in the I-4 corridor, and Smith will need a sweep of the panhandle as well as a comfortable South Florida margain to win. I don't see it happening.

What to watch for on Election Day

While most of the press has been focused on the Governor's race and the efforts by the GOP leadership to defeat Alex Villalobos, several other down ballot races on September 5th will make a huge impact on the shap of state government.

Republican Primary for CFO:

Tom Lee vs Randy Johnson

Lee is a born again conservative facing Johnson whose conservative credentials have never been disputed. The winner faces Democrat Alex Sink in the general. The Democrats feel they have a pick up opportunity with this important cabinet spot, by my hunch is if Lee wins the primary, he is well positioned for the general election.

Republican Primary Senate District 10

Rhonda Storms vs Sandy Murman

Storms is aonctroversial and conservative Hillsborough County Commisioner. While the press loves to beat up on Storms, the voters in this Brandon based district tend towards the right and my thinking is Storms wins easily, then beats back a spirited Democratic challenge from Steve Gorham in November and instantly becomes the conservative leader in the Senate that Carey Baker and Mike Haridopolous could never dream of being.

Republican Primary House District 107

Former Miami "el loco" Mayor Xavier Suarez tries a comeback against of all people Joe Carrolo's brother, Frank and three other candidates. Robert Fernandez however is the favorite having recieved the strong endorsement of Governor Bush.